United States Patent (19)

Transcription

1 United States Patent (19) Stromgren 54) FLEXIBLE KNEE SUPPORT (76) Inventor: Lawrence Thompson Stromgren, 917 Hillcrest, Hays, Kans ) Filed: Aug. 9, 1974 (1) Appl. No.: 496,158 5 U.S. CI... /; /4; 18/80 C; 18/165 51) Int. Cl.... A41D 13/06 58 Field of Search... 18/77, 80 C, 165; /16, /, 4 56 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1587,508 6/196 Coats ,6.1 3, 197 Sheehan /80 C 3,463,147 8/1969 Stubbs X 3,506,000 4/1970 Baker ,581,741 6, 1971 Rosman et al... 8/80 C 11, 3,945,046 (45) Mar. 3, 1976 Primary Examiner-Andrew V. Kundrat Assistant Examiner-Conrad L. Berman Attorney, Agent, or Firm-D. A. N. Chase 57 ABSTRACT A knee support or wrap especially designed for ath letes stabilizes the knee ligaments and provides contin uous support for the knee regardless of the position of the leg. A tubular, elastic sheath is slipped over the knee, and a pair of elastic straps anchored to the sheath are drawn into place and held by Velcro fasten ers. The straps in their operative positions extend in crisscross fashion over the inwardly facing sidewall portion of the sheath, and in directions to duplicate the physiologic stability of the medial knee ligament complex. Felt pads on the sheath under the straps add body to the support, prevent bunching of the elastic sheath, and aid in the distribution of the pressure ap plied by the elastic straps. The support contains no rigid components and is constructed so as to not im pair the normal flexibility of the knee joint. 7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures

2 U.S. Patent March 3, 1976 Sheet 1 of 3,945,046. y 3 N a s M 3 44

3 U.S. Patent March 3, 1976 Sheet of 3,945,046 SGLA in

4 3,945,046 FLEXIBLE KNEE SUPPORT This invention relates to improvements in knee sup ports and, in particular, to a support which is capable of stabilizing the knee without impairing normal flexibility so that it may be worn by an athlete without adversely 5 affecting his performance. Knee braces of various types are in common use at the present time by athletes and others with knee inju ries or knees requiring support for some reason. Espe cially in sports such as football, knee injuries are com- 10 mon and present a constant problem to many athletes. Available braces normally employ either longitudinally extending stays along the sides of the knee or rigid metal strips formed with hinges at the knee joint, either alone or in conjunction with various types of strap 15 arrangements. Oftentimes, these braces are relatively heavy and cumbersome and do not permit normal knee flexibility; thus they are worn only as a matter of neces sity. Furthermore, in football in particular it would be 0 desirable to have a knee support that could be used prophylactically by an athlete to protect the knee joint from the lateral impact that is so common in this sport. The unprotected knee is vulnerable as its weakness is at the inside of the knee joint; therefore, an inwardly 5 directed, lateral impact is particularly dangerous from the standpoint of possible injury. - It is therefore, an important object of the present invention to provide a knee support which is light in weight and not cumbersome and which does not impair 30 the normal flexibility of the knee joint, and yet is effec tive in stabilizing the knee in use either as a prophylac tic device or therapeutically to guard an injured knee. As a corollary to the foregoing object, it is an impor tant aim of this invention to provide an effective knee 35 support which is devoid of rigid components and is entirely flexible. Another important object of this invention is to pro vide a knee support as aforesaid which is constructed in a manner to give continuous support to the knee re- 40 gardless of the position of the leg. Still another important object of this invention is to provide a knee support as aforesaid which duplicates the physiologic stability of the medial knee ligament complex in order to impart significantly increased sta- 45 bility to the knee region. - Furthermore, it is an important object of this inven tion to provide a knee support as aforesaid which may be slipped on the leg of a wearer, rapidly positioned and secured in a minimum of time and with little effort. 50 To this end, it is a further aim of the present invention to provide a support of simple construction devoid of buckles, laces and other such devices. In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the knee support of 55 the present invention, shown on the right knee of the wearer and viewed from the front and outside, FIG. is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, show ing the knee support as seen from the inside of the knee with the knee joint more fully flexed; 60 FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the knee support removed from the wearer; FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the support of FIG.3, showing the same as seen from the outside of the knee (the right side of the right knee); 65 FIG. 5 is an elevational view showing the support as seen from the inside of the knee (the left side of the right knee); FIG. 6 is a rear elevational view of the support; and FIG. 7 is a plan view of the support on an enlarged scale with a portion broken away for clarity. A tubular, elastic sheath broadly denoted 10 receives the leg of the wearer as is clear in FIGS. 1 and, and is slipped over the knee to a position where the sheath 10 is approximately longitudinally centered with respect to the knee joint. The knee support of the present in vention illustrated herein is for the right knee, it being understood that a similar support could also be worn on the left knee with a reversal of certain components as will be explained. The sheath 10 is an elastic fabric which is stretchable in radial directions but not longitu dinally. The sheath is sized to have an unstretched diameter somewhat less than the wearer's leg so that the fabric is stetched as it is pulled over the knee into position. This holds the sheath 10 in place and also imparts some support to the knee region. The sheath 10 has an upper end 1 and a lower end 14 shown as having a circular configuration in FIGS Therefore, the sheath 10 appears as a cylinder in FIGS. 3-7 as if in place on a cylindrical form. Accord ingly, it is to be understood that FIGS. 3-7 are idealized views and that, due to the flexible and elastic nature of the sheath fabric, it will in practice conform to the shape of the leg as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and. The upper and lower ends 1 and 14 preferably terminate in sewed edges each containing an elastic band. A felt pad 16 of generally rectangular configuration is secured to the inside sidewall portion of the tubular sleeve 10 by a continuous line of stitching 18, and has a pair of opposed, front and rear darts 0 and re spectively centrally located at its longitudinal edges. A second felt pad 4 of like configuration is secured to the outside sidewall portion of sheath 10 by a continu ous line of stitching 6, and has opposed, front and rear darts 8 and 30 respectively aligned with the darts 0 and. The dart 30 is somewhat larger to relieve the pad 4 at the rear of the knee joint on the outside of the leg. An elastic strap 3 has one of its ends 34 anchored by stitching to the fabric of the sheath 10 at the rear thereof adjacent the upper end 1 (FIG. 6). The oppo site end 36 of the strap 3 is provided with a fastener 38 which is adapted to mate with a second fastener 40 sewed on the sheath 10 at the rear thereof adjacent the lower end 14. The fasteners 38 and 40 (known com mercially as Velcro) comprise strips of fabric having loops on one strip and hooks on a mating strip which intermesh with the loops in response to applied pres sure, and then release when a quick yanking force is applied to peel the strips apart. Accordingly, the gener ally rectangular Velcro pieces 38 and 40 are faced with the hooks and the loops respectively to provide mating fasteners without requiring snaps, buckles or similar metallic devices. A second elastic strap 4 has one of its ends 44 an chored by stitching to the fabric of the sheath 10 at the rear thereof adjacent the lower end 14, the opposite end 46 thereof being provided with a fastener 48 adapted to mate with a second fastener 50 sewed on the sheath 10 at the rear thereof adjacent the upper end 1. The fasteners 48 and 50 are fabric fasteners of the Velcro type, the same as the fasteners 38 and 40 dis cussed above with respect to the strap 3. It should be understood that each of the straps 3 and 4 is longitu dinally stretchable and is shorter in length when un stretched than the distance around the sheath 10 from

5 3 the anchored end of the strap to the corresponding fastener on the sheath. For example, an unstretched length of each strap of approximately two-thirds the length when stretched and secured in place by the fasteners is suitable; this causes the straps to be placed in tension as they are drawn into their operative posi tions illustrated. Strips of three-inch wide elastic wrap are preferred for the strap material. A support for the left knee is not illustrated since the same principles apply. The construction is identical except for the obvious reversal of components. In utilizing the support of the present invention, the sheath 10 is pulled on the leg up over the knee to the position illustrated where it may be appreciated that the kneecap is centered with respect to the sheath and aligned with the darts 0 and 8. The sheath should be approximately 13 to 14 inches in length so as to com pletely cover the medial knee ligament complex. Once properly located, the straps 3 and 4 are drawn into position and the fasteners 38 and 48 are mated with the fasteners 40 and 50 respectively. The somewhat radi ally stretched condition of the sheath 10 maintains the device securely in place on the knee and, in itself, gives the knee some support. The pads 16 and 4 add a body sufficient to impart additional stability to the knee and minimize any bunching tendency of the sheath 10. Furthermore, the pads (particularly the pad 16 on the inside of the knee) assist in distributing the pressure applied by the tensioned straps 3 and 4. As is particularly clear in FIGS. and 5, the straps 3 and 4 cross on the inside sidewall portion of the sheath 10, the strap 3 then passing under the knee while the strap 4 passes over the knee. Viewing FIG. 4, the straps 3 and 4 diverge on the outside sidewall portion of the sheath 10 as they extend to the corre sponding fasteners 40 and 50. Accordingly, the straps follow the direction of the anatomic fibers of the knee ligaments and apply laterally outwardly directed pres sure to the knee region from the inside of the leg. As may be seen most clearly in FIG. 6, proper positioning of the anchored ends 34 and 44 of the straps 3 and 4 and the corresponding fasteners 40 and 50 on the sheath 10 is important so that the straps, when drawn into place, will be caused to assume the crisscross con figuration at the inside of the knee. Being located as discussed above and relatively wide, the elastic straps 3 and 34 considerably reduce the tendency of medial knee ligament instability and/or any external tibial rotary instability. The rotary instability refers to the action of the foot in swinging in one direc tion without a corresponding movement of the knee, thereby causing a twist. Reduction of these two types of instability is attributed in the present invention to the duplication of the physiologic stability of the medial knee ligament complex through the particular strap positions discussed above that enable the straps to follow and support the natural ligaments. Furthermore, the arrangement of the present inven tion gives continuous support to the knee regardless of the position of the leg as may be seen, for example, by a comparison of FIGS. 1 and. Being completely flexi ble with no rigid components, there is no significant reduction in the normal flexibility of the knee joint. This is particularly important in athletics where the 3,945, athlete, though wishing support, does not desire to be impeded either in speed or maneuverability. This fea ture of the present invention, together with its light weight and ease of installation and removal, make it particularly useful as a prophylactic device since the athlete's efficiency is not compromised. Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is: 1. A knee support comprising: a tubular, elastic sheath adapted to receive the leg of a wearer and to be positioned over the knee, said sheath being of a length sufficient to cover the medial knee ligament complex when the sheath is positioned over the knee, said sheath having upper and lower ends and op posed, inwardly and outwardly facing sidewall por tions; first and second elastic straps each having opposed ends; means anchoring one end of said first strap to said sheath adjacent the upper end thereof, and anchor ing one end of said second strap to said sheath adjacent the lower end thereof; and mating fasteners on the opposite ends of said straps and said sheath, said fasteners on the sheath being located adjacent said upper and lower ends of the sheath and mating with the fasteners on said sec ond and first straps respectively, said straps being drawn around the sheath into opera tive positions crossing each other on the inwardly facing sidewall portion of the sheath upon engage ment of the mating fasteners and, in said positions, said first and second straps being adapted to pass under and over the knee respectively, whereby to stabilize the knee without impairing normal flexi bility.. The knee support as claimed in claim 1, wherein said anchoring means and said fasteners on the sheath are located at the rear of the sheath, and wherein said straps diverge on the outwardly facing sidewall portion of the sheath as they extend therearound to the fasten ers on the sheath. 3. The knee support as claimed in claim, wherein each of said straps is longitudinally stretchable and is shorter in length when unstretched than the distance from said one anchored end thereof to the correspond ing fastener on the sheath. 4. The knee support as claimed in claim 3, wherein a pad is provided on said inwardly facing sidewall portion of the sheath over which said straps are streched in their operative positions. 5. The knee support as claimed in claim 1, wherein said straps are longitudinally stretchable and are in tension in their operative positions. 6. The knee support as claimed in claim 5, wherein a pad is provided on said inwardly facing sidewall portion of the sheath over which said straps are stretched in their operative positions. 7. The knee support as claimed in claim 6, wherein a second pad is provided on the outwardly facing side wall portion of said sheath, said pads having front and rear darts adapted to be aligned with the knee. ck k ck sk ck